TRP: Jasper, Larkin, and Blue Wyn (Criminal Empires)
Word Count: 7391 Coyote: '''at 12:06 PM Day 181. Jasper and Larkin meet up to visit Wyn. Jasper walked all the way to the Basha warehouse, then rapped on the back door. The warehouse felt... oddly familiar to her. Nostalgic, almost. It’d been a long time since she’d visited here. '''Jen: '''at 12:10 PM The spying window in the door slid open and a pair of yellow eyes peered out. "Who're you?" A voice asked from inside. '''Coyote: '''at 12:17 PM Jasper considered, briefly, whether she ought to give her name in some sort’ve code. Might be people nearby listening. And she knew that the Sanguines has it out for the Melaines and the Basha; publicly shouting her name on the street might be dangerous. Eh, whatever. Danger was danger. “Jasper. I’ve come to see Larkin.” No last names. “She around? She sent me a note.” '''Jen: '''at 12:28 PM The eyes studied her a moment longer, not looking very convinced, then vanished as the window slid shut. There were footsteps behind the door, then a few minutes of silence. When the window opened again, the eyes that peered out were black. "It's fine. She's legit." Locks clattered on the other side of the wood, then the door cracked open. "Hey Jasper," Larkin said. "Glad you made it." '''Coyote: '''at 12:37 PM “Yeah, of course.” Jasper checked the alley entrances and exits, briefly noted the people inside, noted Larkin seemed fine as usual; all the automatic checks Jasper usually did. “You ready to go? Might as well get it over with. We ought to maybe... talk on the way over there, though.” '''Jen: '''at 2:41 PM "Yeah, let's better not waste time." Larkin buttoned her coat closed and flipped the hood up, then started for the mead hall. "I dunno what's going to be inside," she told Jasper while walking. "I half suspect it's going to be a trap." '''Coyote: '''at 2:44 PM Jasper grinned, showing her teeth. “Yeah, probably. So hey. We need a code word or something? Maybe a codeword that means... y’know, danger, or something’s wrong.” Jasper liked codewords. '''Jen: '''at 2:49 PM "Hm, alright. Should be something inconspicuous, like..." Larkin thought for a moment, then snapped her fingers. "It's a meadhall but we ain't gonna drink anything in there. So let's take mead for danger. Double to book it fast as possible." '''Coyote: '''at 2:52 PM “Alright. Sounds good to me. Mead. Hey. So, the plan’s just to— figure out what she wants, right?” '''Jen: '''at 2:55 PM "I wanna get as much as possible. Strengths and weaknesses, what she plans... anything." '''Coyote: '''at 2:57 PM Jasper nodded, eyes unfocused. She glanced at Larkin. “You good at talking any?” '''Jen: '''at 3:05 PM Larkin grimaced and tilted her head from side to side. "I'm not so... eh, I'm not so good at telling people stuff they want to hear. We're gonna have to pretend we want in on her thing. How about you?" '''Coyote: '''at 3:06 PM “Haha. Um, I ah.... I can’t lie.” '''Jen: '''at 3:10 PM "Oh, god." Larkin stopped them. This was... a fucking bad idea and it would go horribly wrong. Goro had said Wyn wasn't hostile, though. And what better chance to milk intel directly from the source? They just had to get their fucking act together. "Okay, let's... fucking try something. Tell me a lie. Or- wait. Tell me a lie and a truth, I'll guess. Make it good." '''Coyote: '''at 3:20 PM “Uh.” Jasper searched her memory. “Alright. One time when I was five, I crawled out of a third-story window because I got bored. It was actually the warehouse here. My parents were visiting and they brought me with. One of Renar Basha’s assassins had rescue me from a dogfighting ring. I jumped in the ring and wanted to fight the dogs.” '''Coyote: '''at 3:28 PM After a moment Jasper realized she was also supposed to tell a lie. “Oh, uh, fuck. Well, I was orphaned at birth, and... ah, fuck, no, you’ve already met, like, my sister and shit, you know I’m not an orphan. Fuck. Okay. So, I was an orphan, but then the Melaines adopted me. There. That’s a lie. Fuck! I mean, that could be the lie, but it’s not, because it’s the truth.” '''Jen: '''at 3:32 PM Well, so much for that. Larkin nodded, slowly, then it turned into a head shake, both hands covering her face. "I'll do the lying, okay?" She said, not looking up. '''Coyote: '''at 3:33 PM “Maybe we should, uh... try... not lying,” Jasper said. “I mean, honestly, that just works better for me.” '''Jen: '''at 3:35 PM "So, you'll walk in there and go 'hey Wyn, we don't actually want to sell our families out but please still tell us your plans'?" '''Coyote: '''at 3:40 PM “Nah, nah. Listen. We go in there. We tell her we have no intention of selling out our families but we’re curious about what she has to say. Then we let her say what she has to say. Honestly I feel like you people over-complicate things,” Jasper said. “Then I’m gonna tell her thanks for her time, that was a very nice offer, but she can go fuck herself, because she broke my brother’s fucking horn and half-blinded him, so fuck her.” '''Jen: '''at 3:44 PM Larkin froze. "Your- what? What brother?" '''Coyote: '''at 3:48 PM “Yeah. I have no fucking clue why she did it, either. Azriel’s a fucking nerd,” Jasper said. She pulled out a cigarette and lit it with match. “Wasn’t like he was some kid of threat.” '''Jen: '''at 3:51 PM "Your-brother," Larkin repeated, full aware she sounded like an idiot. "Azriel. Your brother's name is Azriel and he's got a broken horn and a blind eye." '''Coyote: '''at 3:55 PM Jasper ticked off her fingers. “Abel, Gabriel, Azriel, Jasper, Amethyst. Oh— hey, I just noticed. Us girls all have, like, rock names. And the boys have fancy religious people names. Neat. I wonder if Mom and Dad did that on purpose.” '''Jen: '''at 4:06 PM "Jasper. Jasper." Larkin stepped forward and grabbed Jasper's shirt front with both hands, holding on as if she might collapse. "I fucking- did you..." Larkin gave up on words and let her head sink against Jasper's chest. "Let's just go to Wyn. " '''Coyote: '''at 4:09 PM “What? Why?” Jasper checked around automatically. They seemed safe enough; she didn’t see anyone spying, anyone trying to hurt them. She positioned herself so that she shielded Larkin from the immediate area in case there were assassins nearby. “What’s wrong?” '''Jen: '''at 4:11 PM "Nothing," Larkin groaned and let go. "Perfect. Everything's fucking perfect." She waved Jasper on. "C'mon." '''Coyote: '''at 4:14 PM “Hey, hey. Are you sure?” Jasper steadied in case she was sick or something. '''Jen: '''at 4:28 PM "Yeah." Larkin disentangled herself. "Hey, what do we do when things go south with Wyn?" Hopefully this would distract Jasper from the fact Larkin was freaking out over learning she was having an affair with a Melaine. Jasper's brother. God. Mask. '''Coyote: '''at 4:32 PM Huh. Larkin was deflecting. Jasper had seen Azriel do it enough times to recognize it. “Alright, boss,” Jasper said. “No worries.” She kept walking. If Larkin Basha didn’t want to talk about it, Larkin Basha didn’t have to talk about it. “Well— I suppose we exit as quickly and quietly as possible. Seems unlikely she’ll have ten men suddenly attack us in a public space. The real concern, honestly, is getting hit with some kind’ve mind control. We took out that dragonborn snot but she might have others that can cast domination spells. She’ll probably target me first if that’s the case— fighters like me are normally more susceptible to that shit. So if you see me get all glassy-eyed and turn on you, make sure you’ve got a fast exit.” '''Jen: '''at 4:38 PM She nodded along, even though only half listening. Should she tell Azriel she knew? But how? And why hadn't he fucking said- okay, well, neither had she and with good reason. Hardly something Larkin could blame him for but, god dammit, it still kinda hurt. And she'd have to tell him her name, too, wouldn't she? And then he'd get all upset about her not trusting him again and... Larkin's foot snagged on a cobblestone, jolting her enough to snap her out of it. "Ah," she made, realizing Jasper was still talking. "Yeah. Fast exit. Well, if she sticks around that place all the time my bet is it and everyone in there is hers, but I guess we don't have any other choice. " '''Coyote: '''at 4:40 PM “Yeah, yeah. Gotta take some risks.” Jasper kept watching her. Maybe she was sick. Tripping over stuff. '''Jen: '''at 4:50 PM By the time they reached the mead hall, Larkin had managed to push down her thoughts about Azriel (she kept coming back to it, though. Curse the guy for invading her mind like that.) She'd even worked up a bit of anger at Wyn for fucking with their territory and Larkin's family and for hurting Azriel (yeah, there he was again.) She felt the hard edge of it grating against the back of her mind, sharpening her awareness. Larkin was fully armed. Knives everywhere they could be hidden, rapier and two daggers sitting at her hip, crossbow hanging at her side. Under the cloak she wore her leather armour. Larkin stopped them again before the entrance to Stoic Hall to give Jasper a tense look. "Here we go. 'Mead', remember. Fuck off if things go south." '''Coyote: '''at 8:45 AM “Yeah, I got it. We’ll be fine.” Jasper used to walk into these situations all the time when she lived in Moorland. One of the Melaines needed to meet someone dangerous and they needed someone to look grim and intimidating. She’d been playing backup since she was thirteen or fourteen. This was the first time, though, she was one of the people actually talking, not just playing bodyguard-in-training. They stepped into the hall, and they went to meet Morgan Wyn. '''Izzy: '''at 9:53 AM Wyn sat at her usual table at the back, boots propped up on the edge, ankles crossed. Her blue pseudodragon was stretched out along her shins, blinking drowsily, and she was reading a paperback. A half-eaten plate of food and half-empty stein of mead sat in front of her. She glanced up as they approached her, and raised her eyebrows. "Well. Isn't this a surprise." '''Jen: '''at 10:45 AM "Don't get too excited, Wyn." Larkin stopped a good three steps away from the table, senses on high alert. Too many people in here, not enough exits. She wasn't going to get close yet. "You wanted to talk, we're here to listen." Not a lie and not the whole truth either. Didn't matter. Wyn had to expect they were holding back. Larkin only hoped Jasper would play along now, and not spill the beans right away. '''Coyote: '''at 10:53 AM “Yeah, sorry for dropping in on you,” Jasper said. “We would’ve Sent ahead to let you know we were coming, but we didn’t want you to know we were coming. You have time? Just curious, wanted to talk.” God, Jasper was really fucking curious. '''Izzy: '''at 11:22 AM "Oh, I always got time for the heirs to criminal empires." She closed her book and tossed it onto the table, looking at them with clear interest. "You gonna sit down? Listen, this is a nice place, you're not in any danger." The pseudodragon opened one red eye to watch them with just as much interest. '''Jen: '''at 11:32 AM "How can we be sure? Oh, right. We can't. Thanks, but we're standing." Larkin smiled without any friendliness. '''Coyote: '''at 11:36 AM Eh. Stand, sit, it didn’t matter. Out’ve mild curiosity, she reached to pet the pseudodragon. She tried to make the movement seem casual, like she wasn’t thinking about it. She was curious if it’d let her pet it— and curious if Wyn would let her pet it. “What’s her name?” Jasper said. '''Izzy: '''at 1:53 PM "Hasn't got one." Wyn looked amused; the pseudodragon eyed Jasper but didn't move. "Hey, stand like a couple assholes if you want, but you wouldn't've come in here if you thought I wouldn't let you walk back out." She spread her hands. "I'd rather make allies than enemies, kids." '''Jen: '''at 2:03 PM "Well, we're not stopping you from trying," Larkin said. "C'mon. What's your offer?" She didn't come closer nor dropped the smile. Wyn could try calling her names all day long if she wanted. Wouldn't get her anywhere. '''Coyote: '''at 2:12 PM Jasper glanced between Larkin and Wyn. Sitting would make it harder to run. It’d take more time to get up. It’d slow them down. Jasper didn’t care much, though. It was fine. If they got attacked, it was perfectly alright with her if Larkin stayed standing and bolted while Jasper got left behind. Jasper was used to being in danger. First one in, last one out. That was her job. Jasper sat down. She kicked her feet up. She glanced around, noting the entrances and exits, but kept her body language casual. “I’m not a kid,” she said, amused. “How old are you?” '''Izzy: '''at 2:20 PM Wyn gave her a crooked grin and widened her eyes for a second. "Old as the fuckin' hills." She leaned back and looked to Larkin. "My offer is that when Skyport's mine, you get to keep a place in it. Better place than before I got here, maybe. Depends --" she tapped her fingertips together, looking off to one side -- "on whether you keep fuckin' insisting on getting in my way. Sabotaging the Ohara mission, stealing my friend Amren, taking your brother back." She gestured to Jasper. "I mean, you could've just asked for him." '''Coyote: '''at 2:33 PM Jasper didn’t have a place in Skyport. She didn’t really have a place... anywhere. And frankly— the whole Basha thing, and the Melaine thing, and the Sanguine thing— she wanted to take down the Sanguines, sure, but... Well, Morgan Wyn was interesting. “Hey,” Jasper said. “I have a question.” She tapped her fingers on the table. “You broke my little brother’s horn.” '''Izzy: '''at 2:39 PM "That's not a question," Wyn said, but went on, "Sure did. Didn't want to kill him, had to send a message." She shrugged. "Your parents, y'know, they don't really respond to polite requests." '''Coyote: '''at 2:44 PM “Why not kill him?” '''Izzy: '''at 2:46 PM Another shrug. "He's a clever boy, isn't he? All smooth-talking, making little sparks with his viol." She smiled. "Much rather be friends." '''Coyote: '''at 2:52 PM “Haha. Alright,” Jasper said. “Good to know, good to know. Hey, just a general heads up: you fuck with any of my brothers again and I’ll cut off any body part you touched them with.” '''Jen: '''at 3:00 PM God damn. Larkin tensed, glancing around for anyone who might have heard. She took a step closer, positioning herself behind Jasper. Fought down the immense urge to learn over her shoulder and give Wyn the fucking finger (and kiss Jasper because fuck yeah, what a badass motherfucker). Better to keep her between them, though. One more word about Azriel and Larkin might turn Jasper's threat into truth right this moment. '''Izzy: '''at 3:04 PM Wyn laughed. "Hey, message received. Loud and clear. You're loyal, I get it. I like that. Only extends to the brothers, though -- and the little sister, I'd guess -- huh? You care what I do to your parents? 'Cause god, I gotta tell you, they're a real fuckin' thorn in my side up in Moorland." She scratched a bit on her pseudodragon's back that made it give an odd trilling, purring sound and close its eyes. '''Coyote: '''at 3:10 PM Jasper tensed, her jaw tightening. One shady criminal empire taking down another criminal empire. It was no skin off her nose, honestly. She didn’t say that, though. She didn’t say anything. (What would Azriel say? He’d smile and say some bullshit implying he didn’t give a fuck and he was willing to work with Wyn, regardless of whether that was true or false. Abel would scowl and say nothing; wait for an offer, hold his cards close to his chest.) '''Jen: '''at 3:24 PM "Well, what is it you wanna do to them?" Larkin jumped in when Jasper kept silent. "You gotta know the Melaines and my family are tight. Sell one out, get stuck by the other, you get my meaning?" '''Izzy: '''at 3:28 PM "Well." She shrugged. "I'm in Skyport now, and I gotta say your uncle doesn't scare me. Pretty sure both thorns can be yanked without too many tears." She glanced at Jasper. "Long it's all right with you." '''Coyote: '''at 3:37 PM “And what if I say no? Am I a thorn that gets yanked out, too?” Jasper said. '''Izzy: '''at 3:39 PM Wyn spread her hands. "I can manage your mother. It'd just be easier if I didn't fuckin' have to." '''Coyote: '''at 3:53 PM There was an odd taste in Jasper’s mouth. “Listen,” Jasper said after a long, long moment. “I don’t think I’m the person you think I am, here. You called me the heir to a criminal empire. I’m not. I haven’t seen my mom or dad in seven fucking years, Wyn, and I left because I hated them. You’re looking for masterminds, assassins, leaders, folks like that to fill your ranks. That’s not me. I’m a grunt. I hit stuff. You can buy somebody like me off the street for ten gold and a case of beer. “Or,” Jasper said, “You want a figurehead. You want somebody with the Melaine name you can prop up and pretend is on your side. I’m not that, either. So thanks for talking to me, but you’re wasting your breath. I’m not the kind of recruit you’re looking for.” She scooted her chair back a bit. '''Izzy: '''at 4:15 PM "Ah." Wyn tilted her head, studying Jasper. "Hey, man, I think you're probably selling yourself short there. Sure, I'd like a figurehead, but your mom's the best one I can get, even if she is a bit on the feisty side. You'd be wasted in that role." She waved it off. "People like you with some backbone and guts -- trust me, I'm looking for your types, too." '''Jen: '''at 4:17 PM "What for, hm?" Larkin asked, with some trouble to keep her teeth from grinding against each other long enough to talk. "Suppose we're interested, what's it you want us for in your shiny new kingdom?" She held onto the back of Jasper's chair, fingers drumming against it. '''Coyote: '''at 4:20 PM Yeah, Jasper believed her. Wyn, that was. Jasper just wasn’t looking for another boss to disappoint. Jasper leaned back in her chair, silently letting Larkin and Wyn talk. '''Izzy: '''at 4:26 PM "Well." She shrugged. "Larkin -- I don't think your uncle's gonna play nice, so I'd give you Skyport once I move on from it. Jasper -- you'd make a good bodyguard for her, don'tcha think?" '''Jen: '''at 4:35 PM Larkin snorted. "Give me Skyport, huh? Sounds great. Swap one Basha out for another and think I'll play steward while you go to..." She waved a hand. "Whatever fuckin' place you think you're taking next. Hey, quick heads up. It's best to secure one territory before getting all greedy and moving to the next." '''Izzy: '''at 4:36 PM She raised an eyebrow. "Will do." '''Jen: '''at 4:42 PM "Really? All these fucking places- Moorland, Skyport, the little towns in between- how're you gonna do it? How're you so sure the Melaines or a new Basha won't just fucking turn on you, huh?" '''Izzy: '''at 4:48 PM Wyn smiled. She patted her little blue dragon, and it stretched and crawled off her shins, onto the table. She dropped her boots down to the floor with a clap and leaned on the table herself, and it came over to sit by her elbow. "The Melaines are gonna keep doing what I tell them because I control their little city guard, and I control their little Masked Militia, and as far as they know, I'll snuff out their little kids any time I want. And if no Basha will work with me ..." She clicked her tongue and shook her head regretfully. "I'll just have to work without'em." '''Jen: '''at 4:58 PM "So you wanna eradicate us?" Larkin grimaced. "Y'know, I hear you makin' all these boasts but I can't say they're any fuckin' convincing. Actually, doesn't sound like you wanna make friends with me at all. Why do you think I'd rather turn on my uncle than rip you a new one or die trying?" '''Izzy: '''at 5:04 PM "I find most people prefer to stay alive," she said. "Give just about anything for it. And your uncle's shipped you off to fuckin' Glimmerton, and all, I mean." She shook her head. "Fucking disrespectful, you ask me. 'Course, you're not." A little shrug, and she leaned back, her dragon hopping into her lap. She petted it along its spine. "I get the picture, Larkin. I could give you the city, but you don't want it. I could make arrangements to keep your uncle alive and in control of the city, under me, but I don't think he'd take to that any better than Ms Melaine is. You're not leaving me with a lot of options, here. Why don't you just tell me what you want?" '''Jen: '''at 5:15 PM Larkin smirked. "And here I thought you had so good fuckin' intel. Didn't you see that coming? Really?" '''Izzy: '''at 5:17 PM "Hey. I think you're competent. I'd like having you on my team. But if you're not gonna be fuckin' reasonable." Another shrug. '''Coyote: '''at 5:26 PM Jasper’s eyes shifted between them. As far as criminal underlords went, Wyn was being pretty reasonable. It was interesting, the way she did things. The way she tried to talk people into stuff rather than kill them. Most crime bosses Jasper had met would’ve simply killed Azriel. Yeah. It was just plain interesting. “So let me get this straight,” Jasper said. “You’ll recruit just about anyone as long as they’re useful to you, huh? Gotta say, I’ve heard stuff about that little bastard Amren. Ugly son of a bitch. Killed two innocent people for no reason at all. That’s the kind of people you like to recruit?” '''Izzy: '''at 5:32 PM "Oh, yeah, he's a little bastard." She grinned. "Bards, though. Real useful, yeah. And he'll do anything I tell him to do -- I like that kinda loyalty, no matter who it's coming from." '''Jen: '''at 5:39 PM Larkin huffed. "Seems to me you're mistaking opportunism for loyalty. Don't think that little shit has any of it. What'd you offer him? My bet he'll flip on you as soon as he finds a better deal." '''Izzy: '''at 5:43 PM "Oh, honey." Wyn adopted a bleeding heart tone. "Don't you know? I'm the only one who took him in. I helped that poor boy find himself after he lost his brother, and when he had to run away from home, it was straight into my arms. No. He's loyal." '''Jen: '''at 5:54 PM "Great sob story," Larkin said. She straightened up and patted the back of Jasper's chair. "How about you hit us up when you have something to offer we actually want? Until then... well, not see you around I hope." She glanced around, wondering whether this was the moment they'd be pierced by arrows or stabbed two dozen times until they stopped moving. '''Coyote: '''at 5:58 PM Jasper stood up. She glanced at Wyn, still thinking. Then she shrugged and followed Larkin out. She nudged Larkin ahead so that Larkin was the one scouting ahead while Jasper was the last one out, watching their backs as she left. '''Jen: '''at 6:06 PM Outside, Larkin took off and led them around some corners before stopping to talk. Gods. They'd actually made it out alive. Wouldn't have been so if places had been reversed. "Well, that wasn't as much as I'd hoped," she said. "She's got one hell of an opinion of herself though." '''Coyote: '''at 6:08 PM Jasper shifted, glancing back at the bar. “Yeah. Fuckin’ dangerous.” The problem was, Jasper was even more curious now than when she’d walked in. She’d gotten her questions answered, though. She knew her siblings weren’t in danger... not really. '''Jen: '''at 6:10 PM Larkin rubbed at her face, sighing. "I had fucking hoped this would give me an idea where to... fucking start but fuck, I got nothing. Guess I'll talk to Goro about it when he comes back." '''Coyote: '''at 6:12 PM “Ha— oh yeah, that guy. Yeah, we gotta regroup and figure this out. I’ll see if I can scrounge up any other info before he gets back,” Jasper said. “I got a couple ideas. I’ll tell you about it later.” '''Jen: '''at 6:15 PM "Yeah, sounds good. Well... anyway. I got stuff to do. Let's meet up later." '''Coyote: '''at 6:18 PM Jasper nodded. She leaned against the wall and let Larkin go. She waited a few minutes, drumming her fingers against the wall. She kept starting to leave, then stopping. Eh, she decided. Fuck it. And she walked back in and sat down in front of Wyn. “Hey,” she said. “Old lady. Wanna play a game with me?” '''Izzy: '''at 6:43 PM Wyn looked back up from her book, amused. "What kinda game, you little punk?" '''Coyote: '''at 6:45 PM “Calish Rat Screw.” '''Izzy: '''at 7:01 PM She reached into her pocket and pulled out her watch, checked it, clicked it closed and sat up. She tossed her book on the table again. "Sure thing. You got a pack of cards?" '''Coyote: '''at 7:06 PM Jasper’s eyes followed the watch. She reached to scratch the dragon casually. Privately, she decided to name the dragon Blue. Good name. Straightforward. Jasper shuffled the cards, then offered them to Wyn to shuffle as well. '''Izzy: '''at 7:21 PM She took them and cut the deck, and handed it back. "Wouldn't cheat, would you, Melaine?" '''Coyote: '''at 7:29 PM "Me? Oh, sure fucking would. Usually don't need to, though." Jasper tossed out cards until they had an equal pile, twenty-six cards apiece. "I'm assuming you know how to play?" '''Izzy: '''at 7:38 PM She laughed. "Good to know. Sure do." '''Coyote: '''at 7:44 PM Jasper won a few cards. Morgan did, too, but less. Jasper was just a bit quicker. She kept her eyes on the cards and started talking. "So-- listen, I'm really curious. What exactly is the goal here for you?" '''Izzy: '''at 7:46 PM "End end, or just Skyport?" '''Coyote: '''at 7:46 PM "Both. Either. What's the point of conquering Skyport? Or... anywhere else? Just power for the sake of power, or what?" '''Izzy: '''at 7:50 PM She didn't answer for a moment, then looked up from the cards with a grin. "Guild secrets." '''Coyote: '''at 7:52 PM "Alright. So it's not just power, then. Or it's power for someone else, not you, and your reasons are... different." Wyn looked bored, and maybe a bit tipsy. She kept missing cards. She was only half-focused on the game. Jasper wondered why. '''Izzy: '''at 7:53 PM "Lots of reasons to do a thing, Melaine. I'm sure you get that." '''Coyote: '''at 7:53 PM "My name's Jasper." '''Izzy: '''at 8:04 PM "A'right. Jasper." She laughed at her results so far. "Swear I used to be better at this. Goddamn." '''Coyote: '''at 8:12 PM "Just saying," Jasper said, amused. "There's fucking seven of us. If you call us all 'Melaine' you're just gonna confuse folks." Morgan was really fucking fast. She was just paying attention to other things, Jasper was pretty sure. The next hand, Jasper pulled a trick. She slapped the deck, and as she did, she slapped '''a card on top, switching what was there, then took the pile. She watched casually to see if Morgan had noticed. '''Izzy: '''at 8:17 PM Wyn raised an eyebrow at her and quirked the corner of her lips, but said nothing about it. "Sure, sure, fair. You're the only one so far that's wanted anything to do with me, though." '''Coyote: '''at 8:23 PM Wyn didn't say anything, didn't comment-- which meant she'd either missed it or didn't care. Damn. Jasper was hoping to figure out how perceptive she was, how fast at catching things, but with that poker face, she couldn't tell. "Just curious," Jasper admitted. "Honestly, one evil empire's the same as another to me. Renar Basha's pretty brutal. Not sure I care for his methods, y'know." '''Izzy: '''at 8:24 PM "Hey, now. Evil's a harsh word." '''Coyote: '''at 8:25 PM Jasper laughed. "You mean you or him? You should see what he did to my fucking babysitter when I was a kid." '''Izzy: '''at 8:28 PM "Nah, I just figure it's all subjective. What'd he do to your babysitter? Maybe she deserved it. Maybe she did something worse." She shrugged. "And maybe what she did was justified, too. Too many variables, eh?" '''Coyote: '''at 8:35 PM Jasper hummed to herself. Wyn won the latest hand. Jasper slowed down and stopped playing. She fiddled with her cards. “Well, when I was a kid, my mom used to bring me along to meet Renar Basha,” Jasper said. “This was when me and Az… you know Az, he’s the one you fucking mutilated, haha… we were, y’know, five or six years old. My mother didn’t know what we were good at yet—she didn’t know if we were smart, or stupid, or had any kind of innate spellcasting ability, or anything like that. So she decided to just expose us to as much as possible, right? “Anyway, I got bored. I was five years old then. So I crawled out of this third story window,” Jasper said, and laughed. She mimed climbing down a trellis. “I was a stealthy little bastard then, too. Very good with my hands.” She nodded slowly to herself. “And I got into some trouble. I wandered off downtown, strutting confidently down the street, with my wooden battle-axe and my wooden daggers. And I found this dogfighting ring. There was this giant brown dog attacking this smaller dog—I think it was a bait dog. And I felt terrible for the dogs—they were biting each other and screaming… it was awful, they didn’t fucking deserve that. “So I jumped into the ring. See, I thought if I beat the bigger dog up, then the fight would be over, and I wanted the dogs to stop hurting each other. So I started fist-fighting the bigger dog.” Jasper mimed beating something up. '''Izzy: '''at 8:39 PM Wyn stopped paying any attention to the cards and just propped her chin up in her hands, grinning at Jasper with half-lidded eyes. "Oh my god. All right." '''Coyote: '''at 8:48 PM “Anyway, so I won, right? Tiny barbarian. And the big dog slunk off. But then someone found me,” Jasper said. “Apparently Renar sent one of his assassins to go looking for me. She scooped me up out of the ring and carried me away. A sharp girl. Maybe sixteen years old, something like that, a teenager. She had this… thick gold hair she kept tied back out of her face with a ponytail.” Jasper paused, drumming her fingers on the table. “Anyway,” Jasper said. “She said her name was… Anastasia, but I could call her Sasha.” Jasper motioned for the nearest waiter to bring her a drink. “She was really nice to me,” Jasper said after a long moment. “She said she had a little sister that died. Y’know how when you’re, like, five years old, and a pretty teenage girl pays attention to you, and you get a crush on your babysitter… it’s like that. Adorable, right?” '''Izzy: '''at 8:56 PM Wyn's expression was soft. "Yeah. Fuckin' adorable." She leaned back, crossing her arms on the table, and her dragon slunk over to crawl back into her lap, sticking its head back up to rest its chin on the edge of the table. "So you know what Renar did to her," she said, her expression not changing, "just for trying to get revenge for little Zoya. 'Course, Zoya was one of Helena Baron's girls. Stole from him. Hard to place blame, isn't it?" '''Coyote: '''at 8:57 PM Jasper was quiet for a long fucking time, looking at Wyn silently. "Is that why she turned on Renar?" Jasper finally said. "Because... fuck, yeah, that's... fuck." '''Izzy: '''at 9:09 PM She nodded. "Mm. She was never with Basha. He murdered her little sister, she joined up with Helena to get back at him. That girl --." She tapped on the table. "All she cared about was getting the man who killed Zoya. She got real close, too, and he didn't even give her the dignity of killing her. Broke her arms and legs. Broke her back. Burned her more than half to death and cut her throat and tossed her in the street. Then her boss stuck her in a bed for twenty years -- twenty fuckin' years, Jasper." She shook her head. "Y'know that little punk, Jonn? One of your Runner friends -- Jonn's his kid. Don't know if you've met. Little psychopath. Anyway, seems like he was about the only company Sasha had, and that was only the past couple years -- for the fucking eighteen before that she was just layin' in a bed, staring at the ceiling, with the woman who wouldn't let her die coming around and paying attention to her now and then. "So then I come along, and I say, what can I do for you, huh? She tells me she wants to fuckin' die. I say, I can do better than that." She splayed her fingers out. "She was never loyal to the Basha, but Baron? Oh, Baron fucking broke that girl. That's why she turned on Helena." '''Coyote: '''at 9:11 PM Jasper nodded slowly. "I wanna talk to her." Jasper's fingers twitched. "I mean... I can't, yet. But eventually." '''Izzy: '''at 9:12 PM "Yeah," Wyn said quietly. "Hey. Whenever you want. I'll set it up." '''Coyote: '''at 9:14 PM Jasper regarded her. She felt herself soften for a minute, then tensed again, jaw tightening, reminding herself: Hey. This is a fucking criminal overlord. Stay on your fucking guard. It was fucking difficult, though. Wyn was really good at this game. "Just curious," Jasper said. "Would you do that? Leave somebody in a bed for twenty years? Not able to move, not able to scream... You're creative. I bet you fuck people up like that all the time." Yeah. Wyn was a ruthless mastermind. Had to keep reminding herself about that. '''Izzy: '''at 9:17 PM She shrugged. "I'm not a sadist, hon. Someone poses a threat to me and I can't convince'em otherwise, I'm just gonna kill'em. Someone tells me they fuckin' want to die, and I can't help them -- like I could Anastasia -- I'm not interested in making them suffer." '''Coyote: '''at 9:19 PM The waiter came by and put a drink in front of Jasper. Smelled like generic mead, whatever they had on tap. Jasper stared at Wyn for a good long while. Then Jasper decided: Eh. Fuck it. She downed the drink and wiped her mouth. "Good enough for me," she said, kicking back. '''Izzy: '''at 9:20 PM Wyn chuckled. "Good to know." '''Coyote: '''at 9:20 PM "So. What'd you do to Helena, old lady?" '''Izzy: '''at 9:21 PM "She was in my way." '''Coyote: '''at 9:22 PM "Someone poses a threat to you and you can't convince 'em otherwise, you're just gonna kill 'em. Right?" '''Izzy: '''at 9:23 PM She clicked her tongue and winked and pointed to Jasper in acknowledgement. '''Coyote: '''at 9:26 PM "See, here's the thing," Jasper said, motioning the waiter for a second drink. "I'm pretty sure you haven't directly lied to me all night. Maybe I'm wrong, it's just a gut feeling of mine. I've noticed that about you. You don't... directly lie. But now you're being all, fucking, you know, cagey. You're not saying the words out loud. You're not saying out loud, Yeah, Jasper, I quickly and quietly cut her throat to give her a merciful death because I'm not a sadist, not in those exact words. Instead, you're just not answering me. Not really. So that means that isn't it. She's either alive-- or you made her suffer when she died. That's what I think." '''Izzy: '''at 9:30 PM Wyn laughed. "You're a sharp kid. Hey, do you actually give a shit what happened to Baron, or are you just feeling me out, eh?" '''Coyote: '''at 9:35 PM "Little of column A, little of column B," Jasper said. "Spose I wanna know what kinda person I might be working for." Her eyes lingered on Wyn a minute, and she paused longer then necessary. "Spose I'm curious." She toyed with the empty mug, not looking away. "I'm not a sadist, either. But y'know... maybe some people deserve a little suffering. Just a little. If fucking Helena Baron did that to Sasha... to Asya, or whatever the hell she's calling herself these days... it almost seems like a shame Helena died without getting a taste of her own medicine. Almost seems like a shame she died so quick." '''Izzy: '''at 9:40 PM "I've killed a lot of people," Wyn said. "I don't have the time to savor every one. Anyway." She shrugged. "It's business, not pleasure. You want me to say it outright? Helena Baron's fucking dead." She looked Jasper straight in the eyes. "I made it fast and painless. Torture's not my racket." '''Coyote: '''at 9:51 PM "Huh," Jasper said. "Interesting." Jasper was generally pretty good at reading people. Her brothers taught her. Wyn was hard to pin down, but-- Jasper had a gut feeling she was telling the truth. Jasper nodded, satisfied. "Well, I wouldn't blame you for drawing it out, in this circumstance, but... eh. I can respect that." She waved the waiter over for another drink. Her hands were a little jittery. Now that she'd calmed down for her high-- now that she'd stopped being pissed about Azriel's horn-- it was slowly starting to hit her. I really came in here alone to flirt with Morgan fucking Wyn. The fuck am I doing? '''Izzy: '''at 9:58 PM Wyn's leaned back and propped her feet up on the table again, stretching her legs out comfortably. Her dragon stretched out similarly along her legs. "For what it's worth, Sasha didn't have any interest in torturing the woman, either," she commented. "Hey, when you said you can't talk to her yet -- you mean, uh, emotionally speaking, or because of the language barrier? I can hook you up with someone to teach you how to sign. It's not thieves' cant." She waved idly. "I'll make Jonn do it, or some shit." '''Coyote: '''at 10:05 PM "Nah, I'm, ah-- good." Jasper wanted to try talking to her alone, if possible. No interpreters. She just wasn't good enough yet. "I'll think about it. Figure it out. Listen, about Amren, and about that discussion about sadism we just had...." The waiter set a second drink in front of Jasper, and she downed it again. Whoa. Wasn't regular mead this time. Stronger. Whoops. Jasper wiped her mouth. "You're probably not getting him back. Sorry. Not sure what they ended up doing with him." Which was the truth; Jasper tried to avoid knowing details like that so she couldn't accidentally spill them. "I'm not fucking sorry, either. Little kobold serial killer bastard." Then, grimacing, realizing she was being overly harsh, overly rude, Jasper added, "I mean, you should probably just be aware. So if you're going to kill somebody over it, you know now." '''Izzy: '''at 10:10 PM She grinned. "Shame. Shame." '''Coyote: '''at 10:13 PM "Haha. You know, you've got a great face. Fuck! Poker face. You've got a great, uh, poker face. Y'know, I can't tell if you're lying or not. At all. I bet you're damn good at it, either way." '''Izzy: '''at 10:14 PM "Oh, no, I just have a great face," she said, gesturing to it. "In general." '''Coyote: '''at 10:20 PM "I mean, fair." '''Izzy: '''at 10:20 PM Wyn laughed. '''Coyote: '''at 10:27 PM "Hey," Jasper said. She propped up her hand on the table. "Y'know, if you were some random lady in a bar and not a horrifying crime boss, I might hit on you. Wanna hear a pickup line?" '''Izzy: '''at 10:28 PM "Yeah, hit me." She grinned. '''Coyote: '''at 10:33 PM "Okay. Listen. Are you a fruit? Because if so, you'd be a fine-apple." Jasper waved her hand. "Alright, alright. Different one. Are you my appendix? Because I have no clue how you work, but a funny feeling in my stomach makes me want to take you out." Then she sat bolt upright. "No, no. Hang on. This one's my favorite: Nice legs, baby. What time do they open?" '''Izzy: '''at 10:35 PM Wyn kept grinning. "You get a lot of girls with those?" '''Coyote: '''at 10:37 PM "Sure fucking don't. Eh, that's not the point. Point's just to have fun." Jasper finished her drink. "Alright, this has been fun. I keep trying to think if there's anything else I wanted to ask... Can't think of a damn thing, though." '''Izzy: '''at 10:39 PM "Well, as long as you're having fun." She pulled her watch out to check the time. "'Bout another hour, though." '''Coyote: '''at 10:43 PM Jasper stopped scooting her chair back. "About another hour 'til... what?" She looked amused. "C'mon. You can't just make a fucking comment like that and then not telling me." '''Izzy: '''at 10:45 PM "'Til my legs open." '''Coyote: '''at 10:53 PM Jasper choked on air. She laughed, shaking her head. "'s a pity. I'm a schedule today. Can't stay for another hour." She got up out of the chair. "Maybe some other time, huh?" '''Izzy: '''at 11:05 PM Wyn laughed and spread her arms. "I'll fuckin' be here, man." '''Coyote: '''at 12:05 AM "Oh hey," Jasper said. "One last question." She nodded to the pseudodragon purring where it sat. "My friends say that's some kind've familiar. I thought those had to stick close to their owners. No?" Jasper glanced around bar like she'd see a wizard somewhere if she looked close enough. '''Izzy: '''at 12:08 AM "Why, you thinking about grabbing her and bolting?" Wyn asked, amused. "You can't have her. Get your own, punk." '''Coyote: '''at 12:11 AM "Hey. Stealing counts as getting my own, right? Nah, nah. Just wondering if, like..." Jasper glanced down. She was pretty sure familiars had to be within a certain distance of their owners to see through their eyes. Jasper didn't know fucking shit about magic, but she'd fought a lot of wizards before. A lot of tricksters. A lot of bards. Maybe this one was different, though, or the owner was... stronger, somehow. Or maybe pseudodragons were different; she'd never seen a pseudodragon familiar before. Or maybe the owner was hiding under the floorboards. Jasper chuckled. She waved to Wyn. "Anyway. Thanks for the chat. I like you." '''Izzy: '''at 12:21 AM "Yeah? Good to hear." Wyn grinned and gave Jasper a lazy salute. "Same to ya." end Title: Criminal Empires. Summary: Larkin and Jasper go to parley with Morgan Wyn; Larkin is unreceptive to her offers, but afterwards, Jasper goes back to talk to her and decides she likes Wyn. Category:Text Roleplay